National Collegiate Athletic Association |
CommentSeptember 28, 1998
Guest editorial -- Use of Indian mascots shows lack of respect
BY CHARLES WHITCOMB
Member institutions with Indian mascots that promote Indian caricatures and mimic ceremonial rites do not comply with the NCAA's commitment to ethnic student welfare. The use of these symbols and mascots is not respectful to Native American culture and is considered by that culture to be sacrilegious. No other race of people in America is used for mascots or nicknames for sports teams. The continuation of this practice sends a clear message that administrators, who have the responsibility of nurturing our students, have an insensitive disregard for the native culture of this country. For Native Americans, dance is the ceremonial embodiment of their indigenous values and represents their response to complex and often profound historical experiences. Their dance depicts a vital means of surviving culturally and a powerful means of asserting cultural identity, fulfilling family and community obligations while celebrating the group. American Indian dance is performed throughout America, in venues from the most traditional and private spaces to those that are very public. Thousands of dances are performed every day -- not to satisfy paying audiences or fans, but to assure the continuation of ancient customs, to honor deities and each other, to associate with friends and kin, and toaffirm an Indian identity. The half-time show that mimics this her- itage denigrates the culture and demeans an entire people. This is not entertainment to those who are a part of the culture. Institutions that have continued to use stereotypes of Indians and justify their actions as a way to honor the Native American have failed to listen to the protests of the Native American population. We must all listen and learn to respect what all cultures respect, not just what some of them cherish. Institutions that have heard the request and eliminated the symbols -- institutions such as Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Marquette University, Syracuse University, Miami University (Ohio), the University of Oklahoma and Bradley University -- recognized the significance of this concern. I applaud these and other institutions that have stopped the egregious abuse of the culture of our indigenous brothers and sisters. The efforts of the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee serve to encourage and support collegiate environments that welcome and respect differences. We believe that accountability for the success of our student-athletes and the successful welfare of the student body as a whole must include our efforts to educate our students to cultural sensitivity. If we offer our students anything less, we have hindered their growth. When we choose not to speak out against the perpetuation of disrespectful images of Native Americans, we fail to respect ourselves. Far too many of us have denied our insensitivity and have tried to justify our actions with a delusional belief that we do not dishonor Native Americans with these stereotypical mascots. Instead, these mascots are perpetuating negative stereotypes of an ethnic group and diminishing the right and opportunity of Native Americans to appropriately identify their culture. It is simply another form of institutional racism. To end this debauchery requires an extraordinary commitment to devote our efforts to identify the abuse and eliminate it. The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee joins with organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians, the Inter-Tribal Council of United Indian Nations in Oklahoma, the National Rainbow Coalition, the NAACP, the Center for the Study of Sports in Society and others in advocating the elimination of Indian mascots and ceremonial rituals in conjunction with collegiate athletics. Our charge as administrators in higher education is to develop our students so they can maximize their learning experiences to become effective contributors to our society. This is an impossible task if we continue to dishonor Native Americans by using them as mascots and conducting parodies of their scared ceremonies for entertainment purposes. Charles Whitcomb is chair of the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and is faculty athletics representative at San Jose State University. Comment -- Development effort will pay off in soccer
BY GIOVANNI A. PACINI With the fall soccer season beginning and the recent abysmal showing of our men's national team in France still fresh in our memory, I offer a thought about player development in this country. Player development in the United States: Is this truly an oxymoron? It pains me to actually say that. I would like to feel there there is indeed a bright light at the end of the soccer tunnel and to think that there is a multitude of young players being developed to the levels of England's 18-year-old Michael Owen, Brazil's Ronaldo and Denilson, or even Argentina's Marcelo Gallardo. Wake up. It isn't happening. The United States brings to the world the likes of an Alexi Lalas and Michael Burns and then must shop for naturalized citizens like David Regis because there isn't enough American talent to put forth a capable high-level national team. If indeed we are to win the World Cup, as Project 2010 is designed for us to do, then we must recognize a fundamental, yet crucial, flaw in our so-called system: our youth coaches. Include in that the many ill-qualified high-school and travel-team coaches who charade as ones who are actually doing something positive in the area of player development. Personal experience My interest in this area began when I was asked by our then director of player development here in Massachusetts to assist him in educating youth soccer coaches as to how to effectively begin this process of player development. I felt it an awesome responsibility to be able to go out and positively influence our youth coaches to the ideas of "street soccer" and letting this beautiful game be the ultimate teacher. My interest grew even more as I traveled while recruiting in my role as college coach. I began watching all the more closely as to how players played -- that is, their technical ability and creative instincts. More importantly, I watched how coaches coached in games and in training. What they recognized as important elements in their players is what I wanted to learn. The magnitude of the dilemma of player development in the United States became very clear to me. Throughout this process of observation, and in my continued efforts to educate, I was met by a steady and predictable barrage of soccer neophytes who questioned: "Why should we play 3 vs. 3 when soccer is 11 vs. 11?" "What do you mean that I shouldn't give my 8-year-old team positions? Just let them play?" I shuddered at the story of one coach who actually used rope to restrain his players into staying in an area of the field so that "they would stay spread out." The very age where the roots of creativity and grace should be born was being stifled by those who would not, and do not, listen to those who are trying to educate them for the good of the game and for the children. Winning, but not building As a college coach, I began to scrutinize high-school soccer coaches here in Massachusetts who had winning records and, more closely, those who went on to win state championships. Although my observations admittedly were not scientific, I found people with just enough soccer knowledge, the ability to motivate and sufficient talent to achieve winning results. It certainly was not player development. My point is that there are many who believe a winning coach is actually proficient in the area of player development. Not true. The same can be said for our Olympic Development Program system, which is often questioned as just a program for the white, affluent kids in our country and frequently is driven by club coaches who look no further than the confines of their own club in order to "develop players." Do the major powers of U.S. soccer know all this? I believe they do. To circumvent the dismal lack of proficient coaches in the area of development, we now have Project 40, which is designed to give young players professional experience earlier in their careers. We also have the recently implemented Player Development Opportunity residency program at the Bollatieri Academy in Florida. Adidas has stepped in with the Elite Soccer Program, an effort to better recognize and develop America's young soccer players. The New England Revolution's Jamar Beasley is a graduate of the program. I have often wondered if I was the only one who felt this frustration and concern. That feeling was quickly abated when I had the good opportunity to spend a week with many of my peers at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Premiere License Course held this summer at Amherst College. Throughout the week, I heard similar tales from fellow coaches from throughout the country who are eager to educate youth yet had encountered the same stereotypical confrontations that I had experienced. Learn from the world It would be wrong of me to categorize every youth and high-school coach as not being committed to player development, very wrong. There are indeed many who do seek out those who know, attend clinics and improve their professional standing by taking coaching courses such as those offered by the NSCAA. I applaud those who understand that there is always something out there to learn and that the road to professional improvement is ongoing. Sadly, I feel they are but a minority. I often wonder what a world soccer power the United States would be if indeed all of our youth, club and high-school coaches were in tune with the modern methodologies of player development. How wonderful would it be to have all of our under-10 players engaged in small-sided games with training sessions that created an environment that allowed the game to be the ultimate teacher. Have we not learned from the mighty Brazil, where its youth play and learn literally in the streets? It is where creativity and grace are born. At the next level, can we not put our club and high-school coaches into a mode of thinking that understands that the creative process still must be nurtured while still being able to introduce basic tactical concepts? Such a feeder system would invigorate the likes of a Project 40, as well as our level of collegiate play, Major League Soccer and ultimately our national program. But until we recognize this fundamental flaw in our youth coaches, sadly we always will be a second-rate soccer nation and the dream of winning the World Cup in the year 2010 a mere fantasy. Giovanni A. Pacini is the head men's soccer coach at Lasell College.
Opinions -- Reaction varies on recent OCR policy interpretationDiscussion about the recent Office for Civil Rights policy clarification that an institution's sports scholarship spending for women must be within one percentage point of the proportion of student-athletes who are women:
Todd Turner, athletics director "Frankly, it's going to be a challenge for many schools to meet the requirement immediately. We felt like we were in good shape, and all of a sudden this one percent variance came out. That puts us in a different position."
Charlotte West, former associate athletics director "There's so much in athletics budgeting that causes the proportionality to vary from year to year that this will really be an auditing nightmare for those of us dealing with scholarship aid for 200 or 300 athletes."
Neena Chaudhry, staff lawyer "Clearly, schools can comply if they want to. People always say that they can't comply because they've already allocated their scholarships. The point is, they can find the money if they want to, and they can give it to students quickly. Financial considerations and budgetary constraints can't justify violating Title IX."
Nancy Footer, general counsel "I have a real question about whether or not they (OCR) can issue a policy clarification in the manner and style in which they did....It feels very much as if the sands underneath our feet are shifting and shifting all the time. It's very difficult when you are reading opinions from courts, and following those, and suddenly OCR comes out with a clarification that seems to change the landscape significantly."
Success
Pat Summitt, women's basketball coach "If you work hard enough and long enough, you can beat people, because the world is full of average." erformance-enhancing drugs
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The committee was established to enhance the NCAA commitment to foster racial equality and diversity in collegiate athletics. Thus, we strongly support the elimination of Indian names and mascots as symbols for our member institutions' sports teams. We also support the elimination of Native American rituals for entertainment purposes.